South Brunswick beats Perth Amboy: Quintana returns, Vercammen impress

South Brunswick beats Perth Amboy: Quintana returns, Vercammen impresses and Cumber plans to wrestle at 160 pounds
Posted By Greg Tufaro On January 6, 2010 http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/onthemat/2010/01/06/south-brunswick-beats-perth-amboy-quintana-returns-vercammen-impesses-and-cumber-plans-to-wrestle-at-160-pounds/

By GREG TUFARO
STAFF WRITER

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A match that began with plenty of juice at 171 pounds, where the Greater Middlesex Conference’s top ranked wrestlers in that weight class squared off, quickly disintegrated into an unexpected runaway as fourth-ranked South Brunswick High School rolled to a 44-22 victory over third-ranked Perth Amboy in a battle of Home News Tribune Top 10 teams Wednesday night.

The Vikings spoiled the return of senior Heriberto Quintana, a third-place finisher in the state at 112 last winter who sat out the first three weeks of this season because of “”team issues,” according to Perth Amboy coach Mike Giordano.

Quintana, who is certified at 119 but wrestled at 125, won by technical fall (20-4, 5:32) over Frank Capraro, providing the Panthers with one of their few highlights. Quintana’s descent plan has him on pace to compete at 119 on Jan. 15.

Perth Amboy (2-3) started four freshmen and was without six starters including sophomore Luis Nunez, one of the conference’s top wrestlers at 112, who Giordano said was sitting for the second time this season because of “”team issues.”

“”(Coming in) we looked at their lineup, not from a shorthanded standpoint,” South Brunswick coach Joe Dougherty explained, “”and we (predicted) two toss up bouts with us splitting all the others. So when they came in and had a couple of kids not where they were

supposed to be we looked at it like, “Wow! It could be a lopsided score if our kids wrestle well,’ which they did.”

South Brunswick (4-1), whose lone loss is a three-point defeat at the hands of J.F. Kennedy, continues to look impressive.

The Vikings won nine bouts and owned a 17-7 edge in bonus points. The Panthers, known for staying off their backs, endured four pins.

With the score tied 9-9 after four bouts, South Brunswick won five of the next six to take a commanding 31-14 lead. Luke Rimmer’s technical fall at 145 mathematically sealed the victory with two bouts remaining, but the match was over long before his win.

The marquee battle at 171 between incumbent state qualifier Brendan Vercammen and rising star Matt Cumber lived up to its billing with Vercammen scoring a 3-1 decision. His ankle-pick for a takedown in the third period proved to be the difference. Cumber has looked impressive this year, especially in a 9-8 overtime loss to Long Branch’s Omar Akel, who placed fifth in the state last year.

“”We all knew the 171 bout was pivotal,” Dougherty said. “”The way that their lineup is (with two-time state qualifier Joel Perez at 215 and incumbent region qualifier Ryan Moskwa at heavyweight), where would it be best for me to see what moves I want to make? The last thing I wanted to see was 171 pulled first to set the tone of the match.”

Dougherty said most of the wrestlers on his team, with the exception of Vercammen, were surprised by Cumber’s toughness. Cumber plans to cut to 160 to help the team and remain there for the NJSIAA Individual Tournament.

“”We’ve been wrestling Cumber a number of years,” he said. “”He’s a very dangerous wrestler. He’s always impressed us but he impressed us tonight even more. You kind of get spoiled a little bit because you see Brendan wrestle all the time. We knew Cumber was good, but he got really good. Nothing for nothing, but it’s a true testament to Brendan, beating a quality kid. He wrestled smart. Cumber was good up top. Brendan knew how to stay away from that. He wrestled real intelligent.”

Jeff Goldhagen followed Vercammen’s decision with a pin. Dougherty gave undersized Lucas Delpiano an opportunity to forfeit to Perez, but the backup 189-pounder wanted to wrestle. Delpiano injured his ankle while getting pinned but epitomized South Brunswick’s heart.

Keith Lewis, who weighs 190 while competing at heavyweight, wrestled tough in a 5-2 loss to Moskwa that forged a 9-9 tie.

South Brunswick won the next three bouts before Quintana, whose mere presence in the gym energized the Perth Amboy crowd, stopped the bleeding. Quintana anxiously paced back and forth behind the Perth Amboy bench from the start of the match until it was his time to shine.

“”I couldn’t wait to wrestle,” Quintana said. “”I was finally back on the mat and it felt good. I was ready to go. It stunk not being with the team. I’m in pretty good shape. I did a lot of lifting and extra stuff on my own and was going to club.”

Giordano was not disappointed by the outcome for the simple reason that his squad was depleted.

“”When you are missing guys,” he said, “”there’s nothing you can do. Some of those kids haven’t wrestled a JV match, yet they wrestled varsity. When we get our team back, we’ll be OK.”

Article printed from On the Mat: http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/onthemat

URL to article: http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/onthemat/2010/01/06/south-brunswick-beats-perth-amboy-quintana-returns-vercammen-impesses-and-cumber-plans-to-wrestle-at-160-pounds/

Click here to print.

Copyright © 2008 On the Mat. All rights reserved.